


Followed

by Anonymous6285



Category: The Beatles (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coming Out, Fear, Period-Typical Homophobia, Strangers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28730724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous6285/pseuds/Anonymous6285
Summary: Ringo's peaceful day at the park is interrupted, but he doesn't mind.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Followed

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to post this last week, but I was busy watching season finale of the United States so :/

It was supposed to be a wind down day for Ringo. That’s why he’d ventured off to the park to sit out on his blanket and listen to the birds chirping in the trees spread across the grass field. The blue summer sky lit up his world through his eyelids, and everything seemed just perfect.

Until it wasn’t, of course. Until he felt somebody sit down next to him, and he sat up as fast as he could, gaping at the young man sitting next to him. He couldn’t be more than twenty-five by the looks of it. And he had to be hot wearing a turtleneck underneath a sweater vest all tucked into a pair of khaki pants.

“Hey!” he said overly excited, and it was then that Ringo noticed the fear in his eyes and the way the hands at the end of his lanky arms shook. “H-how are you?”

“Do I… do I know you?” 

The man smiled, but his eyes didn’t get any less red. If anything, they got worse. “Don’t be daft, love!” 

Ringo knew something was up. He studied him for a second before deciding that he should just go along with it. “Oh, of course. Yeah, I’m great.” His voice got a little softer. “You alright?”

His face visibly relaxed, making Ringo feel better about the whole situation. The man now sharing his blanket started to mess with the end of his long sleeves and glanced behind him before looking straight down at the ground. Then, his words came in an almost whisper. “I’m sorry. I’m being followed, and I didn’t know what else to do…”

That alarmed Ringo, and he tensed. “Oh… oh, god, okay.” He tried to think of what he could possibly do. “Who is it? I mean, what do they look like?”

“He’s behind me. A-and he’s wearing this green jacket, I think. He followed me from the Underground around some weird roads. And now here, too.” Ringo had heard of the Underground before, and from what the newspapers said, it was nothing good. What was this poor kid doing there?

“What’s your name, love?”

“I’m G-George,” he responded, finally looking up. He still looked terrified out of his wits.

“Alright. Well, George, everything’s going to be fine, like? I’m Richie, by the way.” A smile formed on George’s lips as he nodded. “I know this is really scary. But do you have any clue why he might be following you?”

George bit his lip carefully, crossing his hands together.

“You said he’s from the Underground, right?” A nod. “Why would he want to go there?”

“I know it’s unnatural and everything, b-but it is… it is, well, there are a lot of, erm, homosexuals that go there.” Without giving Ringo even a second to respond, George freaked out. “I’m not trying to do anything with you, I swear! And I haven’t broken the law or anything, but--”

“Love, I’m not worried about that stuff. I’m worried about this creep that followed you, yeah?” George sniffled. “Alright, so he’s following you because you’re… gay?” It felt almost accusing to the younger man, but he reminded himself in his head that there was nothing wrong with it.

“I th-think so…” 

“Do you think we should call the police?” Ringo asked, and George immediately shook his head no. He understood, too. Even if the police knew that this man in the green jacket had been following him, if they found out about the poor guy’s sexuality, he was done for. “Do you want me to walk you home? Unless you live alone. That might be dangerous until we know for sure this guy is gone.”

“I don’t know what to do, then.” A single tear escaped his left eye, and he wasted no time in wiping it off.

“I could take you to my place. If you want, of course. I don’t want to force you or anything.”

“You sure? I really don’t want to intrude. I was really just hoping to talk to you until he’s gone.” George glanced over his shoulder, and the man in the green jacket was still right where he was sitting before. “He’s not going to go anywhere, is he?”

“I don’t think so. I’ll stay here as long as you need me to, though.”

“I think maybe going back to your place is probably the best option, really,” George admitted, eyes cast downwards. “As long as you’re okay with it.”

“Whatever keeps you safe.” He got up along with George and started to fold his blanket up before walking to the car with the other man.

-

The front door of Ringo’s house opened, and a little boy sitting on the couch looked up and smiled. “Daddy!” he shouted, jumping up and running over to him, letting Ringo pick him up into his arms. But the boy’s face scrunched up when he saw George. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, that’s George. And George, this is Zak, he’s my oldest.”

“Three!” Zak shouted excitedly, already warmed up to the strange man.

“Wow,” George muttered.” You’re so old! And you know your numbers!” Ringo put him down and ran off down the hall just in time for them both to hear a baby’s cry.

“Well, that would be Jason,” Ringo chuckled, taking off his jacket and hanging it on a hook by the door. “You can make yourself at home, George. And if you ever want me to bring you back to your place, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks.” George shuffled and kicked off his shoes, and a short woman stood with messy hair in the hall with Zak holding onto her leg. 

“This is Maureen. Maureen, this is George.” She started walking towards them, and for a second, Ringo thought she would question why he was here, but she just smiled.

“Hello, George,” she said, but before giving him a second to respond, she looked Ringo in the eyes. “Can you help me get Jason down? He won’t stop crying, and I know he likes you better.”

Ringo just chuckled. “Yeah, of course. I’ll be right back.” He scurried off, and Maureen looked over the man standing in front of her.

“How do you do?” She sat down on the couch, and motioned for him to do the same.

“I’m alright.” The tension in the room was indescribable, much like a lot of conversations had gone for George in the past. Although he knew she meant well, the smile she gave him seemed almost threatening, and he wished Ringo would hurry up. It seemed like an eternity before she spoke again.

“How’d you meet Rich?”

What if he said the wrong thing? What was he supposed to say, anyway? “Erm, at the park.” 

She laughed. “Like a couple of kids, yeah? How long have you been friends?”

“Since, erm… since maybe… one hour ago.” Her dark eyes finally made eye contact with him, mostly just confused. “I really don’t mean to intrude on anything here. I’m just here for--”

There was a crash in the kitchen and a scream. “Fuck,” she muttered. “Excuse me just a moment.” She made her way to the kitchen to see shards of white glass were littering the floor all around Zak, who had started to cry. “Oh, sweetheart, stay right there. Let mummy clean this up, okay?”

Ringo showed up, Jason still crying from the bedroom. “Woah, Zak, what happened?” He carefully sidestepped the glass and picked the boy up, carrying him back to the living room, where George was sitting awkwardly on the couch, not relaxed a bit.

“Sorry!” Zak cried as Ringo sat him down next to George.

“It’s alright, love. I’m going to go help Mummy, okay? Can you stay here with George?” A nod, and Ringo eyed George strangely. “You alright here with him for a minute? I’m really sorry about all of this.”

“Of course,” George smiled. 

When Ringo got back to the kitchen, Maureen was plain angry. “Where’s Zak?” she hissed so that George in the other room couldn’t hear.

“Jesus, Mo. He’s in the other room with George. He’s alright.” He got down to the ground and started collecting the smallest pieces in his hand.

“Who even is George?? He said you two met today at the park? And now he’s in our house alone with our son?” Ringo could feel her eyes boring into him, but he didn’t dare look up. 

“He was being followed.” The whispers got even quieter. 

“Followed? By who?”

“Some person who didn’t like that he was…” He stopped. Of course, Maureen wasn’t the kind of person that would judge him negatively for something as miniscule as his sexuality, but she was in a strange mood right now. He glanced up, and she was waiting impatiently. “Gay,” he finished.

“He’s…?”

“He’s only here for the night, I swear. He lives alone, and I didn’t really feel comfortable with him going home with that guy still on him.” A mumble of words polluted the air, and Ringo hummed in confusion.

“I said you’re too fucking nice.”

“What did you want me to do? What would’ve happened if he got seriously hurt tonight because I left him alone while some creepy man was following him around? That’s on me!”

“It’s not your fault, Rich! Bad things happen, and you can’t always blame--”

“It’s not his fault, either! He’s a nice young man, and I don’t want to go to sleep tonight wondering if he’ll be okay. If I can at least help just once, isn’t that better than nothing at all?” Absolute silence followed. “I’ll take him home tomorrow. I promise.”

She sighed.

-

After they’d finished dealing with the mess, Ringo walked into the living room. “George, would you like to stay for dinner?”

“Erm, sure,” he said brightly, his mood seeming to have been affected by the over excited boy with him.

“Lovely! We are vegetarian, so I hope you don’t mind that…”

“Not at all.”

“Great. I see you’re getting along quite well with Zak, so I’ll leave you two alone. Thanks for watching over him, by the way. He’s definitely a wild one.”

George laughed when Zak jumped into his lap. “Thanks for having me. Really.”

Ringo smiled back at him, keeping back the tears of having made a difference at all. What kind of a world could cause this sweet man such pain?


End file.
